1Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of
Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with difficult
questions. She had a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices
and a large amount of gold and precious stones; and when she came to
Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was on her heart. 2Solomon
answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from Solomon which he
did not explain to her. 3When the queen of Sheba had seen
the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, 4the
food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of
his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and
his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, she was
breathless. 5Then she said to the king, "It was a true
report which I heard in my own land about your words and your
wisdom. 6"Nevertheless I did not believe their reports
until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the
greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report
that I heard. 7"How blessed are your men, how blessed are
these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your
wisdom. 8"Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in
you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God;
because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore
He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness." 9Then
she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very
great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never
been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

10The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon
who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious
stones. 11From the algum trees the king made steps for
the house of the LORD and for the king's palace, and lyres and harps
for the singers; and none like that was seen before in the land of
Judah.

12King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her
desire which she requested besides a return for what she had
brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with
her servants.

Solomon's Wealth and Power

13Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one
year was 666 talents of gold, 14besides that which the
traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the
governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15King
Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels
of beaten gold on each large shield. 16He made
300 shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on
each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of
Lebanon.

17Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and
overlaid it with pure gold. 18There were six steps
to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and
arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the
arms. 19Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps
on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made
for any other kingdom. 20All King Solomon's
drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the
house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was
not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. 21For the
king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram;
once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and
silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.

22So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of
the earth in riches and wisdom. 23And all the kings of
the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom
which God had put in his heart. 24They brought every man
his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices,
horses and mules, so much year by year.

25Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots
and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and
with the king in Jerusalem. 26He was the ruler over all
the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the
Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. 27The
king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he
made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
28And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt
and from all countries.

29Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to
last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and
in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo
the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30Solomon
reigned forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel.

Death of Solomon

31And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in
the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam reigned in his
place.

10 Rehoboam's Reign
of Folly

1Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had
come to Shechem to make him king. 2When Jeroboam the son
of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt where he had fled
from the presence of King Solomon), Jeroboam returned from Egypt.
3So they sent and summoned him. When Jeroboam and all
Israel came, they spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4"Your
father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of
your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve
you." 5He said to them, "Return to me again in three
days." So the people departed.

6Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had
served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do
you counsel me to answer this people?" 7They spoke
to him, saying, "If you will be kind to this people and please them
and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants
forever." 8But he forsook the counsel of the elders which
they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up
with him and served him. 9So he said to them, "What
counsel do you give that we may answer this people, who have spoken
to me, saying, `Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"
10The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying,
"Thus you shall say to the people who spoke to you, saying, `Your
father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter for us.' Thus
you shall say to them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's
loins! 11 `Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy
yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips,
but I will discipline you with scorpions.'"

12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on
the third day as the king had directed, saying, "Return to me on the
third day." 13The king answered them harshly, and King
Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the elders. 14He spoke to
them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father
made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father disciplined
you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."
15So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a
turn of events from God that the LORD might establish His
word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the
son of Nebat.

16When all Israel saw that the king did not
listen to them the people answered the king, saying,
"What portion do we have in David? We have
no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to
your tents, O Israel; Now look after your own
house, David."
So all Israel departed to their tents. 17But as
for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam
reigned over them. 18Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who
was over the forced labor, and the sons of Israel stoned him to
death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to
Jerusalem. 19So Israel has been in rebellion against the
house of David to this day.

11 Rehoboam Reigns
over Judah and Builds Cities

1Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled
the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were
warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.
2But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of
God, saying, 3"Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king
of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, 4
`Thus says the LORD, "You shall not go up or fight against
your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is
from Me."'" So they listened to the words of the LORD and returned
from going against Jeroboam.

5Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for
defense in Judah. 6Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,
7Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8Gath, Mareshah,
Ziph, 9Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10Zorah,
Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in
Benjamin. 11He also strengthened the fortresses and put
officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. 12He
put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them
greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin.

13Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in
all Israel stood with him from all their districts.

Jeroboam Appoints False Priests

14For the Levites left their pasture lands and their
property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons
had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD. 15He
set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and
for the calves which he had made. 16Those from all the
tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of
Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of
their fathers. 17They strengthened the kingdom of Judah
and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they
walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years.

Rehoboam's Family

18Then Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath the daughter
of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of
Eliab the son of Jesse, 19and she bore him sons: Jeush,
Shemariah and Zaham. 20After her he took Maacah the
daughter of Absalom, and she bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and
Shelomith. 21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of
Absalom more than all his other wives and concubines. For he
had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines and fathered
twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. 22Rehoboam
appointed Abijah the son of Maacah as head and leader among his
brothers, for he intended to make him king. 23He
acted wisely and distributed some of his sons through all the
territories of Judah and Benjamin to all the fortified cities, and
he gave them food in abundance. And he sought many wives for
them.

The Holy Bible, New American
Standard Version (c)1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by the Lockman
Foundation, La Habra, CA. All rights reserved. Words
identified as being spoken by Jesus are in red.www.BibleABC.net